VIDEO: The firefighting robot

We've come to the point where we're just going to have to accept the fact that in a few years, robots are going to be living and working alongside us.

It's not an easy thing for us to do (anyone who's ever seen I, Robot will agree) but it's happening thick and fast. While we can probably come to terms with robots helping dental students practice or DJ-ing, we're going to have a problem with this...

Meet Octavia. Not only is it a deeply terrifying android but it's also aiming to help put out fires. Yes, we're going to put a potentially bitter and power-hungry machine in charge of saving our lives from fire. Sure, good idea.

Scientists at the US Naval Research Laboratory are working on the technology which means Octavia can interact with people who can direct it to on-board blazes. Once it has seen the fire, it shoots compressed air and water to put it out.

As you can see from the nightmarish video below, it's still a work in progress...